The present invention relates to fishing apparatus and, in particular, to a portable assembly including rotationally driven, eccentric means for pivoting a plurality of radially projecting rod supports.
Success in sport fishing, often requires that a lure or live bait be presented to the fish with an alluring movement. Such movement may be induced horizontally or vertically or as a combination of such movements. The general purpose of the movement however is to simulate a crippled or injured prey species, thereby attracting a predator species of fish, upon detecting movement, and inducing the attracted fish to strike at the bait.
Although movement may be readily induced in a bait during warm weather conditions, when the fisherman has almost unlimited mobility relative to the water, such mobility becomes limited in cold weather conditions, when the surface of the water freezes. That is, other than natural bait movement, as when using minnows, the fisherman is limited to a vertical jigging action.
For many northern climates, where numerous sports enthusiasts continue their fishing activities through the winter months and where regulations permit the use of three or more lines, lure or bait presentation becomes hampered through an inability to maintain movement at multiple baits. That is, the fisherman can only attend so many lines at one time. Even where however the fisherman is capable of manually controlling the movement of multiple rods, it is difficult to sustain such action over a lengthy period of time.
Applicant is aware of a variety of devices which have been developed to manually induce a jigging action at a single hand-held rod and line. One assembly comprises a hand held rod including a finger operated trigger member which manipulates the rod tip to induce flexion, without having to physically lift/lower the rod. Another comprises an unattended tip-up assembly wherein the line and bait are supported from a pivotal lever arm that includes a vane member which is positionable to induce a jigging action relative to surface wind conditions.
Still other assemblies of which Applicant is aware are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,660,317; 4,603,499; 4,280,295; 4,120,112; 2,758,407. Various of these devices are battery powered and include eccentrically driven supports for single lines or rods. Other assemblies disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,081,922 and 3,665,633 support two lines and provide for rigid, interconnected linkages to achieve horizontal and vertical movement. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,633 also contemplates an arrangement of independent, fixed length rigid linkage arms. Nowhere, however, is an assembly disclosed which readily accommodates three or more lines to independently, vertically jig each line.
Applicant accordingly has developed an improved assembly which readily accommodates at least three fishing lines. It also does so in a fashion whereby the lines may be positioned at variable distances from one another with independently variable jigging actions relative to a single, battery powered drive source and eccentric.